The best things we saw at the Harry Styles lookalike contest in London this weekend

Ever been cautiously stopped in the street or got a double take from a stranger who’s half convinced you might be famous? Reckon you could reasonably pass as a certain former boy-bander turned singer, actor, and global heartthrob?

Many men and boys of London clearly think they resemble Harry Styles, and this past weekend they flocked to Soho Square to compete in a spontaneous lookalike contest for the former One Directioner. The competition was launched on Instagram by journalist Katrina Mirpuri and quickly developed a feral following on X. Luckily the Time Out team was on hand to capture the glitter-packed carnage As It Was (sorry).

The event comes after a recent explosion of unabashedly chaotic lookalike contests popping up in major cities and fuelled by social media hysteria. Take the instantly iconic Timothée Chalamet lookalike contest in New York, where hundreds of blokes marched their angular cheekbones and bouncing curls to Washington Square Park to compete for a $50 cash prize. The sea of wiry-haired Willy-Wonkas and Paul Atreides quickly turned chaotic, with Timothée himself showing his famous face and the NYPD arresting unruly attendees.

Only slightly less anarchic was the search to find Paul Mescal’s doppelganger in Dublin, magnetising every pale guy with a single hoop earring and short-shorts in a 30 mile radius. 

On Saturday November 9, the time came for any Londoner bearing even the vaguest resemblance to the stylish Mr Styles. For a few beautiful hours, Soho Square was awash with dangly jewellery, sequinned jumpsuits and feather boas. The singer's flamboyant fashion and androgynous flair has clearly inspired more than a few blokes (and some ladies!) to chuck on their chunky pearls and knitted cardies for the afternoon.

One entrant has since revealed he once missed a train because someone mistook him for the singer and asked for an autograph. ‘I tried to convince him I wasn’t [Styles], but he wasn’t having it.’ Fame is a cruel mistress. 

On Saturday the ambitious attendees channelled Harry’s different ‘eras’, including Pandemic Harry, Watermelon Sugar Harry, and the most shriek-inducing entry, a silver fox Daddy Harry. A more orderly affair than its raucous New York counterpart, the entrants vied for multiple prizes including best lookalike, best hair, and best style.

The worst lookalike was even gifted a commissary prize of four cans of beer to soften the blow. A crowd of mostly young women cheered and whooped to crown their lookalike king, but do you agree with the top prize? Check out our front-row view of the day in the video below and decide for yourself! 

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